M&M seeks to take scooter market with 'Gusto'

Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), which is yet to make a mark in the two-wheeler space, today launched a new 110-cc scooter 'Gusto' as the homegrown auto major seeks to challenge the supremacy of Japan's Honda in the domestic market.

Gusto was first launched in the Northern and Western region to begin with, while in the other parts of the country it will be rolled out in phased manner over the next few months.

Gusto has been developed as a global scooter at the company's R&D facility in Pune. It is the first product developed independently by the company after it acquired Kinetic six years back and produced at the company's Pithampur facility near Indore in Madhya Pradesh.

Mahindra sells around 20,000 units of its motorcycles and scooters per month.

Admitting that the two wheeler business has so far not financially performed, Goenka said that the first target was to build the product and volumes.

"We are first focusing on product and volume and once that happens, the profit will come," he said.

He said the 80,000 units are good volume to become a meaningful player in the two-wheeler segment in the country, adding, "We can get those volumes in the next two to two and a half years but there are a lot of its and buts."

Highlighting its features, M&M Two-wheeler Division Head Rajesh Jejurikar claimed Gusto is the first scooter in India to have a height adjustable seat among other features.

Jejurikar said that Gusto is also being launched in Nepal in the next couple of days and will hit the other neighbouring markets by January-March next year.

The new offering will be exported to Africa and Latin America from the second quarter of 2015, he said.

Mahindra Two-wheelers currently has 425 outlets across the country, of which 250 are in the western and northern region.